High Sierra Topix

Whereas the Carr Lake/Grouse Ridge area is an excellent lower altitude Sierran backcountry destination it isn't so much "granite" as it is mostly metamorphic rock crowning the high ridges. Island L. is in fact ringed by granitic outcrops. For nice, lower altitude backcountry, I think Lakes Basin has a lot of possibilities (many lakes of elevation range 5800-6500' and many short hikes) and the scenery is a bit nicer, I think, although it is entirely metamorphic. Rocks are more strictly granitic in the area of French Lake and perhaps most prominently in the area of Old Man Mtn. although one needs 4WD to get to some of the hiking takeoff points (and to minimize hiking distances).

One of the very nicest places to hang out in granitic country around I80 if you don't care about fishing is what are known (not named on maps) as the "Glacier Lakes" (elev 6900-7000) near Sterling Lake (this is S of Fordyce Lake and N of I80). In its heydey when it was air dropped this was place I called the "Land of the Giant Brookies", but all the lakes are fishless now. They can be reached by a very short (1-2 mi) hike from Sterling L. which is itself accessible by a passenger car drivable gravel road. These little lakelets sit among granite slabs and are quite scenic. These little gems see very few visitors (this was true even when they held big trout).

The NW flank of Desolation Wilderness out of Loon Lake is in rounded granitic country <7000' elev (in the 6300-6900' range). The problem is that you need to walk quite a bit to get to the first campsites, even if it requires minimal elevation gain. This is also the issue with Hetch Hetchy, as noted earlier by balzaccom. Kibbie L. of NW Yosemite is in wonderfully massive granite country, and is only 6800' elev. but it does require 4.5 mi to reach.

An overlooked scenic granitic spot is Gold Lake in Bucks L. Wilderness in the northernmost Sierra (note this lake is also fishless). It sits in a very scenic cirque at the base of granitic cliffs at an elevation of around 5900' and it is reached by a short 1 mi trail from Silver Lake. There are some choice wildflower fields here including the best camassia I've seen in the Sierra.

In my opinion, the Klamath Mtns are still the way to go for rugged granitic scenery at lower altitudes. Castle Crags probably gets you into serious granite with the least hiking and there are many short hikes in Trinity Alps and Russian Wilderness. An example in the latter is Taylor Lake (Russian Wilderness) is at 6500' and is reached by a trail of 1 mi or less with virtually no elevation gain. Bingham L. is a bit higher (about 7000') and the trail crests a bit higher (about 7200) but it is a very scenic place (hike is about 1.5 mi one way). In the Trinity Alps, there are the Boulder Lakes in the NE part of the wilderness (hiking distances of about 2 mi from trailhead and elevations in the 6100-6300' range. The Castle Crags are the lowest in elevation of this region but the Crags proper do not have lakes. Scenic short dayhikes can be had from very close to I5 and elevations are in the 3100-4800' range. For short hikes to scenic lakes there places like Cliff Lakes (short hike or short 4WD) and the Seven Lakes Basin, although these might not be in granitic rocks.

Island lake campsites - south end of the lake there's a peninsula with a big well-used site, fire ring and several tent spots, in the trees. If coming from Carr Lake you go past the junction that heads north to Crooked & Penner lakes, over a little rise and down, then slightly back up and head off to your left into the trees. North end has easy to get to sites out on the rocks but that has no shade and you'll want shade most trips.

I should mention that they will have a 4WD, high-clearance jeep.

So that could broaden their options into the rougher trailhead access points.

Reminds me of my canoe trip days, looking for scenic lakes that you can drive to. My resource was the book "canoeing the California highlands". Many of the areas mentioned so far are in there. I didn't hike that far and managed to find solitude. pct south from blue lakes rd.near sunset lakes. The east side of lassen park (lava not granite).grouse ridge area. Even the ventana wilderness has granite peaks, not too many lakes though:)

I don't know what conditions are like after several bad fire seasons, but Cherry Lake trailhead used to get you into some quite low-elevation granite pretty quickly--either heading into Cherry Creek canyon, or to Kibbie Lake and over to Flora and the Bartlett Creek drainage.